Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said boosting the Hungarian-Kyrgyz strategic partnership is an important mutual goal, and the Hungarian government is injecting another 34 million dollars into the joint development fund to support Hungarian companies entering the Kyrgyz market.
Following talks with Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Bakyt Torobayev in Budapest on Friday, Minister Szijjártó told a press conference after the talks that the importance of Central Asia had risen in the wake of recent changes in world politics and the global economy.
Hungary started cooperation in the region a decade ago, and has greatly profited from the close cooperation with members of the Organisation of Turkic States, he said. "The economic cooperation, growth of Hungarian exports and new energy resources in the Hungarian energy palette show that it is in Hungary's interest to cooperate closely with the region's states."
Bilateral economic cooperation is also hitting record after record, with bilateral trade reaching new heights in 2023, and more than doubling again in the first 10 months of 2024, he said.
The Hungarian-Kyrgyz development fund has been set up with a 16 million dollar capital and has already supported the market entry of 4 Hungarian companies, he said. The new funding is designed to support agricultural, food production and water management companies, he said.
"Hungarian companies will use the money to set up processing plants, animal farms and water power plants, contributing to the development of the sectors in Kyrgyzstan, as well as the Hungarian economy," he said.
In higher education cooperation, Hungary is offering government scholarships to 200 Kyrgyz students wishing to study in Hungary every year, he added.
Hungary is also committed to supporting cooperation between Kyrgyzstan and the European Union, and has made efforts to promote that during its EU presidency last year, he said. "We were the first to submit to parliament the ratification of the Kyrgyz-EU cooperation and partnership agreement, and many companies are working to become the primary exporters of Kyrgyz agricultural products," Minister Szijjártó said.